


Steal My Breath

by Harryskiwiposes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fake illnesses and injuries, Fluff fluff and more fluff, M/M, Non-famous Harry and Louis, Nurse Louis, patient harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 22:52:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19305466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harryskiwiposes/pseuds/Harryskiwiposes
Summary: Harry stopped and sighed. He was rambling and making a complete fool out of himself and although he knew he was, he simply couldn’t help himself.He had been in Louis’ presence for such a short amount of time, but he could already feel the light and kindness, the compassion and softness, the warmth and brightness radiating off of him and it was all too much for Harry, yet somehow...it wasn’t enough.He had spent the past six weeks creating numerous fake illnesses and injuries in the hopes of catching the attention of the beautiful blue-eyed nurse. Now that he had it, he wanted to do anything and everything to hold onto it for as long as he possibly could.It had all started out so innocently.Or - Harry keeps coming up with excuses to visit the emergency room, all for an attractive nurse named Louis.





	Steal My Breath

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's back??
> 
> Real life medical issues have been plaguing me for the majority of 2019, but things have been looking up and I am kicking cancer's ass for a second (and hopefully last - fingers crossed!) time! I needed an outlet for all of my strange chemo-induced thoughts and dreams and decided to get back into writing fics - and what better way that to jump into a prompt challenge - so away we go...
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "foot". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/foot), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1 and 2), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/185709101043/wordplay-2019-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> Since I am going on vacation and have been busy getting everything packed and ready, this is completely unedited and beta'ed, so all the grammar and punctuation errors are mine and mine alone.
> 
> Title comes from "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain.
> 
> I own nothing except the words (and mistakes) written below.
> 
> Please do not repost this anywhere. I am not allowing for any reposts or translations. Thank you for understanding.
> 
> Without further ado...
> 
> Enjoy!

“Wait. You mean to tell me you’ve been coming here for _weeks_? Is that what the receptionist just said to you? How did I not know anything about this? What’s going on? You’re not sick are you? Oh my god, it’s not serious is it?”

“What? No I’m not sick, it’s just...it's complicated.”

“Harry! If you’re sick then I want to know, I need to know!”

“For fuck’s sake Niall! I just told you - I’m not sick, now keep your voice down!” Harry barked as he motioned with his head towards the right and the woman seated close by them.

Niall looked around the small emergency room waiting area. There were simple office-type chairs lining two walls, a set of doors labeled for ‘authorized personnel only’ taking up most of the third, leaving an open reception area where a fourth wall should be. A long hallway could be seen behind the reception desk, leading to the rest of the emergency room - mostly exam rooms and the nurse’s station.

They’d been waiting to be seen for just under two minutes, yet Niall had already rummaged through the out-of-date celebrity magazines littering the oval coffee table in front of them and had leafed through the pamphlets which advertised various medications scattered on the table next to him.

The TV hanging on the far wall was showing _Jeopardy_ , although the volume was turned all the way down and there were no closed captions scrolling the bottom of the screen. Niall couldn’t find the remote to change the channel, not like either of them had any interest in watching the show anyway.

It was an extremely tiny area, the seating capacity was only twenty. When flu season was in full swing each chair was sure to be occupied with people aching and looking for relief, but since it was a warm Saturday evening in August, the room was practically empty. The only other person present, besides Niall and Harry, was an elderly woman who was at least six feet away from them. She was already in the waiting room when they had walked in, her eyes closed and her head leaning back against the pale gray wall behind her.

“There’s literally _no one_ else here, why do I -”

Harry held his hand up in front of Niall’s face, cutting him off mid-sentence and interrupting a question that Harry did not want to have to answer. “Shhh! Be quiet, here he comes.”

“What? Here _who_ comes?”

Not receiving an answer, Niall took it upon himself to push Harry's hand out of his face and peek around Harry to see where - or rather who - all of his attention was focused. All at once it became abundantly clear and he finally understood Harry’s newfound obsession with coming to the ER on a weekly basis.

Standing at the check-in desk talking to the receptionist was quite possibly _the_ most attractive man Niall had ever seen - he looked out of place in the hospital, made more for a runway show or a magazine photoshoot.

On anyone else, the hospital-issued puke green colored scrubs would look extremely unappealing, yet they complimented his caramel skin and chocolate brown hair perfectly, making the other nurses pale in comparison. Not only that, but the scrubs were just the right size, hugging his curves in all the right places - accentuating exactly what needed to be accentuated, showing off exactly what needed to be shown off.

Niall and Harry watched as the man brought his right hand up to his forehead, delicately brushing away the few strands of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. He then took the file that the receptionist was holding out, turning towards where they were seated in the waiting room.

Niall leaned over to Harry, whispering, “who is _that_?”

Harry elbowed him, not bothering to turn his attention away from the handsome nurse walking in their direction. “Act casual,” he commanded under his breath as the man stopped a few steps away from them.

He looked up from the file he was holding, “Harry?”

Harry smiled, before standing up and turning to Niall, “stay here and keep your fingers crossed” he said softly before limping over to where the man was waiting patiently for him.

“Hi, I’m Louis and I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” Looking down at Harry’s foot, he continued, “do you need a wheelchair? Or do you think you can walk down the hallway to the exam room?”

“Oh umm...I can walk, yeah...yeah...sure, I can walk.”

Louis smiled - a genuine smile, a smile that reached his eyes, where small crinkles slowly started to appear in the corners. Maybe Harry should have asked for a wheelchair after all.

“Ok, follow me then.”

Harry turned, giving Niall a quick thumbs up and a huge, dimply smile before doing exactly as Louis had said, following him down the hall and towards one of the exam rooms.

As he lagged behind Louis, limping the best he could, Harry couldn’t help but get distracted by the way Louis was walking - delicately graceful yet with an air of confidence.

Harry had been admiring Louis from afar for the past several weeks, but seeing the way that his body moved and listening to his silky voice as he reassured Harry it wasn’t much further to the room and simply by being in his presence - it was almost too much for Harry to handle. It was a good thing he was in a hospital already.

Louis stopped in the doorway of exam room 10 and motioned for Harry to take a seat on the bed. He rolled a small stool over to the end of the bed and opened the file he had been carrying, reading the registration form Harry had filled out upon his arrival in the emergency room.

Once Harry was situated somewhat comfortably on the bed, Louis spoke first, “so Harry, why don’t you tell me - in your own words - what brings you into the ER tonight?”

Louis looked up from what he was reading and locked eyes with Harry.

Harry was speechless, the breath sucked right out of his lungs as he got caught in the bluest blue of Louis’ eyes. So blue it almost physically hurt to look at them. God did Harry want to drown in those magnificent blue eyes, allowing himself to be pulled to the bottom with no chance or desire to return to the surface.

“Harry?”

Harry shook his head, releasing himself from the trance he’d been in. “Oh...umm...yeah...so my friend Niall, he’s the one in the waiting room.” He paused, taking a deep breath, “...so Niall and I were playing soccer and as I went to kick the ball, something happened - I either kicked it weird or missed completely or something and...I’ve kinda done something to my foot. I think...or my ankle...maybe. I’m really not sure, I mean you’re the expert so maybe you could...umm, you know...take a look at it.”

Harry stopped and sighed. He was rambling and making a complete fool out of himself and although he knew he was, he simply couldn’t help himself.

He had been in Louis’ presence for such a short amount of time, but he could already feel the light and kindness, the compassion and softness, the warmth and brightness radiating off of him and it was all too much for Harry, yet somehow...it wasn’t enough.

He had spent the past six weeks creating numerous fake illnesses and injuries in the hopes of catching the attention of the beautiful blue-eyed nurse. Now that he had it, he wanted to do anything and everything to hold onto it for as long as he possibly could.

It had all started out so innocently.

Harry, Niall and a few of their other friends had been out for a night of drinking and laughing at their favorite hangout spot. Over the course of the evening it seemed as though one by one they had all began breaking away from the group, seeking out potential one night stands and leaving the bar.

Harry hadn’t been in the right mood or headspace to pull that night - work had been extremely draining and tiring, his boss demanding he rewrite the press release for their client’s latest album over and over again until he was satisfied with it. Harry had simply wanted a drink or two and a laugh or two to unwind from such an exhausting work week before heading home to bed - alone.

Once the last member of their group had found a partner, leaving Harry alone at the bar, he tossed back the rest of his drink, letting the alcohol make its way down his throat and into his bloodstream. He threw some money onto the counter, waved to Jimmy, the bartender/owner who always made the strongest drinks and corniest jokes and began to walk home to the apartment that he shared with Niall. They lived three blocks over from the bar and the entire way Harry said silent prayers that Niall wasn’t at home - the last thing he needed to hear was Niall and someone he had picked up for the night going at it in the next room.

He opened the door, holding his breath and listening for any noise or movement coming from inside the apartment. Luck was on his side for once and he let out a huge sigh of relief upon learning that he had the apartment all to himself.

Tossing his keys onto the counter and seeing that it was still relatively early in the night, he decided to do what any other twenty-something guy did after having a few rounds at the bar on a Saturday night - he decided to bake a cake.

After mixing all the ingredients and spooning the batter into the pan, he placed it into the oven and set the timer. While waiting for the cake to bake, he headed to his bedroom, changing from his ‘going out’ clothes into a comfortable pair of sweats. He headed back to the kitchen just as the timer went off, alerting him that his cake was finished.

Absentmindedly, he reached into the oven, grabbing the pan without mitts and yelling out in pain as he burnt his hand. Running it under cool water did nothing to ease the throbbing and after making sure the oven was off, he gently took the pan out (this time _with_ mitts).

He set the cake down and tried running it under water again. The pain intensified and after taking one look at his hand, he immediately knew he needed to have it looked at by a doctor.

Scribbling Niall a note, he called himself an uber and twenty minutes later was sitting in the pale gray colored emergency room.

As he was waiting to be seen, it happened. Or rather _he_ happened. He was beautiful, he was sexy, he was pretty and Harry was immediately attracted to him.

He walked past Harry, looking amazing even in puke green scrubs, calling out the name of a woman seated a few spots over from Harry. He was disappointed that his name wasn’t the one listed on the file in the man’s hand and knew in that instant he needed to do something, anything to ensure the man called _his_ name - in the hospital and in the bedroom.

That’s when his plan was hatched.

The following Saturday Harry made sure _not_ to wear his contact lenses or glasses during the day so that by the time evening rolled around, he had a massive migraine headache.

Niall offered to stay home from the bar after Harry told him about his headache, but he insisted Niall go out and enjoy himself and that he would be fine.

The headache he had stupidly given himself got to be too intense and once again he took an uber to the emergency room.

While waiting to be seen by a doctor, the attractive male nurse from the previous weekend approached a couple sitting a few chairs down from Harry. He gave Harry a small smile as he walked by, taking them back towards an exam room. Harry silently cursed fate for not allowing him to be in the man's care that evening.

But Harry refused to get discouraged or give up that easily and so for the third Saturday in a row he took a seat in the small waiting area of the town’s only hospital. He had spent the day googling non-life threatening illnesses and had decided to list all the symptoms of food poisoning when the woman at the receptionist desk asked him what he needed to be seen for.

He was the _only_ person waiting for a doctor that night - surely the odds were in his favor, surely he would be taken back to an exam room by the gorgeous healthcare worker he had begun having wet dreams about.

Two nurses approached the registration counter - the male nurse that Harry had been trying to get the attention of and a petite blonde female nurse.

Harry crossed everything he had that the receptionist would pick up the solo file sitting on the counter and hand it to _him._

He watched as she held the file out - for the woman. Harry was disappointed to say the least, but not deterred. Google would surely give him another fake illness or injury to use the next weekend. He was seen by he doctor, who gave him a note excusing him from work for three days - so at least it wasn’t a completely wasted trip to the hospital.

Most people probably would have given up at that point, most people would have realized this plan - this ridiculous plan - would never work - but Harry wasn’t like most people. After giving Niall an excuse for not wanting to go out drinking, he left their apartment as soon as Niall was gone.

He walked into the emergency room, heading straight for the reception desk. The same woman from the week before was sitting behind the counter and handed Harry the registration form that he had pretty much memorized after having filled it out week after week.

When he got to the line asking him to explain why he needed to be seen by a doctor he wrote that he suspected he had the flu - even though flu season wasn’t expected for at least three more months.

The woman scoffed as she read the form, but told him to have a seat in the waiting area anyway and someone would be with him shortly.

Various people came through the waiting room that night - people who were sniffling, sneezing, injured and seemingly in pain, all called back by nurses to be checked out by a doctor. But not one of those people was the _one_ person Harry wanted to see.

After sitting in the waiting room for about fifteen minutes his name was called by a tall brunette woman and as he followed her back to an exam room it dawned on Harry that the reason he hadn't seen the gorgeous, gorgeous man he had been seeking was simple - he probably had the night off.

That week at work was particularly exhausting and by the time the weekend rolled around Harry didn’t have any energy to invent a made up illness or injury. He didn’t feel like coming up with an excuse for needing to go the emergency room without raising red flags from Niall. He wasn’t in the mood to sit in the waiting area and watch the man he wanted more than almost anything walk by him time and time again, taking someone else that wasn't him into an exam room.

He wasn’t up for the looks the woman at the registration counter was bound to give him when he gave her yet another reason for being there and so when Niall suggested they have a movie night, Harry jumped at the chance to stay in and relax with his best friend, watching _Iron Man_ movies back-to-back, laughing and gouging himself on pizza and popcorn.

After their lads night in the previous weekend Harry was ready to give up on his weekly visits to the emergency room. He had spent five weeks trying to get the nurse’s attention and each time he had been thwarted. Maybe they just weren’t meant to get to know each other, maybe they weren’t meant to be after all.

Harry decided that enough was enough and instead of researching a new illness to claim to have or a new injury that needed to be looked at, he and Niall headed to the park to play a game of soccer with some friends.

He hadn’t lied when he told Louis that they had been playing soccer - he and Niall had _actually_ played, Harry had _actually_ missed the ball and had _actually_ fallen just like he had said. But other than being a little embarrassed at missing and falling, Harry seemed perfectly fine.

Until he tried standing up. Niall saw Harry wince as he limped over to the sideline bench. He insisted on driving Harry to the hospital to have his foot checked out. And who was Harry to say no to such a selfless gesture from his best friend?

Maybe the universe was correcting itself - forcing Harry to take one more chance, use one more opportunity, spend one more Saturday evening in the emergency room.

“So it’s your left foot then?”

“What?” Harry was startled, “Oh. Oh yeah, the left.”

Louis cocked one eyebrow, suspicion slowly creeping across his face. “You’re sure? The left?”

“Uh...yes. Of course I’m sure. I should know which foot hurts and it’s the left. Yes. Definitely the left.”

Harry watched as Louis’ top lip curled into a small smirk. “Well ok then if you insist. Let’s take a look at the left then, shall we?”

He proceeded to remove Harry’s shoe and sock painstakingly slow and in a way that Harry would later describe to Niall as seductively.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from moaning out Louis’ name as fingertips began massaging the bottom of Harry’s foot. No one had ever gave his foot this much attention and while it was Louis’ job, his hands were magic and each touch was sending electricity through Harry’s body.

“How does that feel? Any pain here?”

“No. No pain.” He leaned back against the pillow as Louis continued kneading his foot, slowly moving his fingers up to Harry’s ankle.

“And now, how does that feel right there? Any pain at all?”

“Mmm so good.”

“No pain?”

“Nope, no pain at all.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Louis let out a small giggle, “considering that you supposedly hurt your _right_ foot.”

Harry bolted straight up in the bed, his eyes bulging, his heart rate quickening. “Wait. What?”

Louis released one of his hands from Harry’s foot, covering his mouth as he began laughing. “On your check-in registration form. You wrote down that you thought you had sprained your _right_ foot.” The crinkles next to Louis’ eyes began to make a reappearance as he cradled Harry's calf. “You know if you wanted my number, all you had to do was ask. There was need to spend all your Saturday nights staking out the ER, creating fake injuries and illnesses.”

The room was silent for a moment, both staring at each other before they burst out in laughter together. “Oh my god. I can’t believe this is happening.” Harry bent his head down, shaking it, “this is so embarrassing.”

Louis stopped laughing for a moment. “Did you not think I noticed you coming in here week after week? It’s a very small ER and not many tall, handsome guys come in every _single_ Saturday.”

Harry slowly looked up, making eye contact with Louis. “You noticed me?”

The tension in the room was thick, Harry tucked his brown hair behind his ears in an effort to do something, to look away from Louis' intense stare.

Louis nodded, “every week when I saw you, I hoped you’d be assigned to be my patient but it seemed like the universe had other plans. Last week I was the only one on duty, so you would have definitely been my patient...but you never came in.”

Louis sounded...disappointed. Was this really happening? The man who he had been trying to get to notice him, _had_ in fact noticed him?

Harry smiled, “I guess the universe finally got it right tonight.”

“That. Or the $20 I slipped Kristy, the receptionist, to ensure you were assigned to me - if you even came in - did the trick.”

“Are you serious?” It was Harry’s turn to laugh, “you really gave her money? For me?"

Louis stood up, releasing Harry’s foot. Placing a hand on either side of Harry’s legs, the bed dipping gently as he leaned over. “Completely serious.”

“So you’d give her another $20 next weekend?”

Louis shook his head. “No need. I have off next Saturday and plan on spending it with you - outside of the emergency room. No fake illness or injuries required.”

The universe had finally gotten it right, the stars had finally aligned, fate had finally decided to give Harry the chance he’d been hoping for.

Harry walked out of the emergency room that Saturday with Louis’ number in his phone, a date for the following weekend and a smile that would never leave his face - it was just what the doctor ordered.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Reader,
> 
> Thank you reading my fic. Thank you for your kudos/comments/messages - they are more appreciated than I can ever convey.
> 
> Until next time...


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